Climate change: California cities could be barred from renewable power deals

By Jim Griffith

Special to the Mercury News

Posted:
05/19/2014 01:46:41 PM PDT

Updated:
05/19/2014 02:45:55 PM PDT

This month, the White House released its National Climate Assessment, which outlines the threat posed by climate change and makes the case for greater action toward environmental sustainability. It follows many other such reports in the past several years.

Cities and counties haven't waited for this latest one to start taking action. Sunnyvale is making its own climate action plans to define how to move toward more environmentally sustainable practices.

One valuable tool for environmental sustainability is Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), a system allowing residents to use their collective buying power to purchase renewable power contracts, using the existing power grid.

Marin County already has adopted a CCA, which provides 50 percent or more renewable power at costs comparable to standard utility rates. Sonoma County's CCA goes online this month, and Santa Cruz, Mountain View and Sunnyvale are investigating forming our own CCAs.

They are hugely successful in the east. CCAs provide power to almost the entire state of Illinois. Given the environmental threats we face and the possibility of giving consumers actual choice in their energy use, it is no surprise that interest in CCAs is growing. They are game-changers.

Unfortunately, California Assemblyman Steven Bradford, D-Gardena, a longtime defender of utility monopolies, has introduced Assembly Bill 2145, which is intended to kill CCAs in California by changing them from "opt-out" to "opt-in" systems. Under AB 2145, a jurisdiction must beg each customer individually to subscribe to a CCA.

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AB 2145 would be the death knell for CCAs in California, and Bradford acknowledged this in his own committee comments.

When a committee colleague expressed concerns about AB 2145 inhibiting his own city's efforts to form a CCA, Bradford reassured him that as long as the city completed its CCA within a year, it would be unaffected by AB 2145.

That's great for Bradford's colleague -- but what about Sunnyvale? What about Mountain View, Santa Cruz and other California communities that may not be able to complete plans in time?

Sunnyvale's Climate Action Plan identifies CCAs as reducing more greenhouse gas emissions than all other options available to us, combined. Additionally, CCAs give consumers a real choice in a monopolistic arena, without hitting them in the pocketbook.

At a time when cities are challenged to meet environmental sustainability goals, Bradford proposes eliminating the very best tool for cities to achieve them. For these reasons, many jurisdictions and the League of California Cities have vocally opposed Bradford's bill. Sunnyvale is on record opposing AB 2145 as well, since it eliminates the possibility of Sunnyvale adopting a CCA.

On Wednesday, the Assembly Appropriations Committee puts this issue to a vote. Bradford's AB 2145 is a direct assault on the environment and consumer choice, all to defend the existing utility monopolies. The Appropriations Committee must recognize it as such and vote to kill this bill Wednesday.